Operation Normal
by evelinaonline
Summary: It was supposed to be a happy, once-in-a-lifetime get together, yet Ben had never been more nervous in his entire life. In which Klaus introduces Ben and Dave to each other.


**I've re-written this more times than I can count, because I just have so many ideas about how Ben and Dave would meet! So here's one amongst many others, which may be published later on. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Klaus had been in his room with Dave for two hours now.

Ben got it; he needed to explain some things to him. He couldn't imagine how he would have reacted if he was manifested into a different time.

Apparently Klaus had told Dave about where he really came from even when they were in Vietnam together, but it wasn't just the time travel they needed to talk about.

Ben remembered when he first woke up as a ghost, only to never fall asleep again.

He remembered how terrified he was when he couldn't touch Klaus, or when he first realised no one else could see him, or how he couldn't complete the simplest of tasks, like eat or sleep.

It took the apocalypse for Klaus to learn how to manifest him, and now it was Dave's turn.

Dave was lucky, really. Klaus knew so many more things about his powers than when he did with Ben. Dave was undoubtedly corporeal in that room, and Ben didn't want to know what was going down between him and Klaus.

He shook the thought off, sighing.

Would Dave even like him?

Dave wasn't just a random ghost Klaus had summoned. It was the literal love of his life, someone Klaus might as well spend the rest of his life with. Probably even the afterlife.

Ben had heard so many stories about Dave. In fact, Klaus never shut up about him. The problem was, he sounded so wonderful, perfect even, and Ben? He was far from that. Way too far.

This whole thing relied on him. On the impression he'd give Dave.

It _had_ to go well.

The door opened a little bit too quickly, startling Ben. He sighed in relief when he saw Klaus poking his head from inside his room.

"Ben Hargreeves, come on in," he said in the best _The Good Place_ impression he could muster, but it didn't make Ben any less nervous.

Ben stood up from where he was sitting — at the opposite wall of Klaus' room, facing the door — and slowly approached the door.

"Oh, come on, Benny, you know I can't manifest him forever," Klaus said, and even though Ben knew he was joking, the guilt went up his spine in milliseconds.

Even after all these years, Ben and Klaus still didn't know what made Ben so different from the other ghosts. How come he was able to show up whenever he wanted, whether Klaus was sober or not, in a body he was comfortable with? What if, since Ben was always present, he was taking up Dave's spot next to Klaus?

He gulped, suddenly feeling a weight upon his back.

He reached the door after what felt like hours, looking up at Klaus with an apologetic look. Klaus smiled at him, and it looked as if he was going to say something, but he took a peek inside his room instead.

"Are you ready for the big reveal?" Klaus asked excitedly, and for a second, after seeing the huge grin on Klaus' face, Ben really was ready.

If only it were this easy.

Klaus pushed the door fully open, and Ben finally came face to face with David Katz.

The man was tall — taller than Ben had expected, but not nearly as tall as Luther — and clearly built up. His hair was curly, but not the _Klaus _kind of curly, filled with a dark brown color, and his eyes reflected the color of a shined-upon lake, or an after-storm sky, exactly like how Klaus had described them.

Despite the wound on his chest — Klaus was still working on getting that fixed — Dave was smiling, or so Ben assumed. This might have been the first time he ever saw Dave, but he could tell a forced and real smile apart and-

Oh god, just how stupid did _Ben _look?

"Okay, boos," Klaus clapped his hands together, getting their attention. "Enough with the awkward smiles and the silence, time to get to know each other!"

So Klaus noticed the smile thing too- Wait, did he say awkward _smiles?_ As in _plural? _Ben wanted Klaus to close the door again, so he could just-

"Ben? Earth to Ben?" Klaus snapped his fingers in front of Ben's face, bringing him back to reality. "Wanna like, come in? To talk? Just a thought."

Ben nodded, but didn't make a sound. His eyes were fixed on Dave as he walked in, and he only averted his gaze from him when he heard a loud thud on the door.

"You really like shoving that thing closed, don't you?"

Ben couldn't understand how a voice description could be accurate up until that moment, but he certainly got it now. Klaus had memorised every single thing about Dave, and explained it to Ben in great detail.

And Dave's voice? _Soft, funny, and filled with certainty?_ That had to be the most accurate aspect so far.

"It's a family tradition, you'll catch up," Klaus said. "And speaking of family…"

Klaus made jazz hands at Ben, his grin never leaving his face.

Ben knew he was supposed to say _something_, but he was honestly at a loss of words. All he wanted was to make a good first impression, and every single sentence that went through his head sounded inappropriate.

Well, he supposed he had already blown his _great first impression _dream by being so awkward.

"Hi," he said, clearing his throat, and instantly wanting to facepalm himself. "I-I mean, hey, hi. Hello."

He needed to shut up. Right now.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it, brother o' mine?" Klaus said, clasping his hands together again. "Davey?"

"Hey," Dave said, waving awkwardly.

"Neat'o!" Klaus cheered. "Now imma leave you two have a nice chat while I have a bath!"

"Hey, wait-"

"Klaus, I don't think-"

He was out of the door before any of them could stop him.

Not that they could have. Ben doubted Dave was still corporeal, and Klaus was the fastest person he knew anyway. He was long gone, reachable or not.

Nothing could prepare Ben for the silence that fell upon the room afterwards.

His whole body was itchy — and Ben was never itchy, not when he was incorporeal — and he could have sworn he even felt the tentacles aching to come out. Ben silenced them. The horror was the last thing he wanted Dave to see.

"So you're Ben," Dave said, a bit of hesitance in his voice.

Sometimes Ben hated how observant he had become ever since he died.

"I wish I could say I was alive and well, but…"

Dave giggled at that, much to Ben's relief.

"I'm Dave," Dave said, extending his arm for Ben to shake. Ben didn't think it was possible to be impressed by a handshake, but damn, did Dave have a firm hold.

"Ben," he introduced himself out of instict. "Whiiich you just told me two seconds ago. My bad."

Dave smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Things were good. He was good.

"Klaus has told me so much about you," Ben said after another long pause, proud of himself for being the one to break the silence this time. "He literally won't stop. It's _this _close to getting annoying."

"I totally get what you mean," Dave said, taking a seat on Klaus' bed. "Klaus can be a mouthful, can't he?"

"Tell me about it," Ben said, a half-smile creeping up his face. "But it's kinda comforting, you know? His ramblings?"

"They are."

It was as if the universe wanted them to stay silent. To shut up. To say nothing.

This is why Ben wanted Klaus to be in the room while they did this. When he was around, even when he wasn't speaking, there was not a chance that the room would be silent. Klaus was always messing around with something, most of the times even breaking it, or tapping his fingers on the table or _anything._

He felt so stupid for missing him.

"Listen, Dave-"

"He talked about you too, you know."

Usually Ben didn't appreciate being interrupted — correction: Ben didn't like being interrupted _period _— but there was something about the way Dave spoke, about what he _said_, that made Ben all so curious.

"He did?" Ben asked.

Dave nodded. "He'd talk about all the family, but it always ended up being about you. About the things you did together, and how much you cared for him."

Despite complaining about the silence before, Ben genuinely had no idea what to say. He was aware of all sorts of crazy shit that happened in Vietnam, but the craziest he had heard thus far had to be this one.

Klaus talked about him. To the love of his life.

Klaus talked about him, despite staying away from him for ten full months, despite a decade's worth of nagging, despite _everything._

"Look, Ben," Dave began, eyes meeting his. "I love Klaus. I love him like I've never loved anyone before, and I don't think I can ever stop loving him, so I promise you, I'll never hurt him-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Ben interrupted before Dave could get ahead of himself. "Dude, are you like, asking for my approval? Of you?"

No way.

"Weeeell…" Dave scratched the back of his head, his voice going an octave higher.

_No way._

"Man. No," Ben shook his head. "I'm not his Dad, you don't need to-"

"I just thought, that since you take care of him so much, you'd want to be reassured."

"Are you seriously asking for my permission to date Klaus?"

"What? No," Dave immediately shook it off. "Don't get me wrong, you look like a decent guy, but I'm going to keep dating Klaus no matter what you think."

Ben had started to get tired of not knowing what to say.

"Good."

"What?" Dave looked up at him, surprise visible in his eyes.

"He loves you a lot, you know," Ben tried to explain. "And he needs you."

It was the first time Ben had actually said it out loud; Klaus needed Dave.

He should have been happy. The guy in front of him was Klaus' dream man, and he loved him back, willing to sacrifice everything for him. There was nothing better than a mutual feeling of understandment and love, so why did Ben feel like he had been ripped apart?

"It doesn't mean that he needs you any less," Dave said, catching Ben's attention.

"What do you…"

"When I said he talked a lot about you, I meant it," Dave continued, a smile now on his face. "I know how much he means to you, and he told me more than once how much you mean to him."

This was supposed to be a happy, once-in-a-lifetime get together, so why did Ben feel like crying?

"I don't think anything could ever make him stop loving you."

Ben cursed at himself inside his head, wiping a tear with his sleeve, and trying his best not to sniffle.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's all just so new to me, you know? You don't look like- You _aren't _like the guys Klaus usually gets with. Klaus has never really done long-term before, and I know I shouldn't be, but I'm so worried for him."

"Believe me, I'd know," Dave said. "I don't think a second has gone by that I haven't been worried for him."

Ben chuckled, nodding. Klaus just was like that.

"That I can agree with."

There was a moment — a final moment — where none of them spoke, but this time it wasn't awkward or scary. They both had smiles decorating their faces, and Ben actually felt close to Dave at that point.

"You know-"

"How are the two of you getting along?" The door slammed open, scaring the living shit out of Ben and making Dave flinch so hard he almost hid under the bed. Had it been long enough for Klaus to finish bathing already? "Oops, sorry, Dave."

"What about me?" Ben asked.

"You've been through worse," Klaus said, sticking his tongue out at him, earning a quiet giggle from Dave.

Ben crossed his arms in annoyance, but there was no hiding the little smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

He could get used to this.


End file.
